Connecticut Orders New Flood Evacuations, Waits for FEMA

Water churns beneath a dam on the Connecticut River at Holyoke, Mass., on Monday. Waters flowing into Connecticut from the north led to new evacuations Tuesday.

Connecticut was still girding for the possibility of more flooding Tuesday, nearly three days after Tropical Storm Irene moved through the region.

More than 400,000 customers remained without power across the state, with electricity for dozens of towns almost completely wiped out. More than 1,000 roads remain impassable.

“In Connecticut, the story’s not over,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said via cellphone Tuesday, as he drove between towns across the western part of the state to assess damage to homes and businesses.

The governor said hurricane and flood-related losses to his state could reach hundreds of millions of dollars, and he is pressing the federal government for help.

The residual effects of the storm are still worsening in some parts of the state.

As water flows downstream from Vermont and Massachusetts, the swollen Connecticut River is expected to crest at some point Tuesday. New flood warnings have been issued across Connecticut – from Stanford Stamford through Hartford — and Malloy is again asking towns along the river to evacuate the area or move to higher ground.

The governor said he is also pressuring the state’s power companies to work faster.

“As of last night, we had 56% of our towns with 80% to 100% power outages,” Malloy said. “I think the power companies are working hard but at the same time, we’ve asked for additional crews that we haven’t received and hundreds of thousands of people are on their third day without power.”

Due mostly to power outages and impassable roads, at least 42 school districts that had expected to start school Monday have postponed the first day of classes, said the a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Education. Many of the schools elected to push the start of the school year a week later, until after Labor Day, as they await the return of electricity.

“We’re now below 400,000 customers without power but we still have a long road ahead of us,” said a spokeswoman for Connecticut Light & Power, the state’s largest provider.

Meanwhile, state officials are preparing damage assessments for each town, information the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires before it will dole out aid to the state. Malloy said he’s asking the federal government to be flexible with its requirements and to work quickly.

“We need to make sure FEMA understands the state they are working with,” the governor said. “This is Connecticut not Kansas, even insurance deductibles could mean massive losses to people.”

Widespread power outages, particularly in some of the state’s hardest hit areas, are complicating efforts by state officials to get the necessary data to unlock FEMA aid. While the governor visited Bridgeport, Fairfield and Stamford to assess storm damage on Monday and Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and a number of members of the state congressmen conducted similar trips.

“We’re working as fast as we can to make a case for federal assistance,” Malloy said.